‘Three abducted female WWF officials released’

New Delhi: Three female wildlife officials, who were abducted along with their male colleagues, in Assam have reportedly been released.

The Assam police have however said that the abductors have demanded Rs 20 million (USD 442,184) for the release of three male officials who were abducted together with the released female officials, the BBC reports.

The masked gunmen had reportedly kidnapped the officials from the WWF, the global environment campaign, in Manas national park on Sunday.

A newly formed Bodo militant group, called Oornai, has taken the responsibility for the abductions after security forces started hunting for the captives. The kidnappings took place within a few hours of a decision by Bodo tribal groups to renew their campaign for a separate state.

The six were working on a WWF-India survey on the tiger population in the national park in collaboration with a local NGO.

The Ultapani range, where the abductions took place, lies in the western part of the Manas Tiger Reserve close to the densely forested, mountainous border with Bhutan.

An Assam government official has said that Bhutanese authorities were asked to help in tracing the kidnapped officials.